"Till now, madness has been thought a small island in an ocean of sanity. I am beginning to suspect that it is not an island at all but a continent. " Brilliant physician Sima̋o Bacamarte sacrifices a prestigious career to return home and dedicate himself to the budding field of psychology. Bacamarte opens the first asylum in Brazil hoping to crown himself and his hometown with "imperishable laurels. " But the doctor begins to see signs of insanity in more and more of his neighbors ...